


What You Fear To Lose

by ReclessAbandon



Category: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game)
Genre: Comatose, F/M, Near Death, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Rebellion, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, Uprising, fic request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23854705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReclessAbandon/pseuds/ReclessAbandon
Summary: Nightmares plague Cal constantly. What scares him is that they revolve around you possibly dying, though the cause of your would-be death remain unknown. Whatever the case, he’s determined to keep you safe at all costs… but for how long can his protection hold?
Relationships: Cal Kestis/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my Tumblr @veron-argentum as a fic request from an Anon.

_Cal… It hurts so much…_

_I don’t think I can anymore…_

_I just can’t…_

“No!” Cal jolted up, beads of sweat riddled his chest and neck.

In the bed opposite of his is you, sleeping deeply and peacefully. From that narrow distance between beds, he studied your relaxed features, moonlight radiated over your skin—highlighting the secretive shadows of your collarbones and the slight twitching of your eyelashes. Cal stood up and pulled the blanket up until your bosom before retiring to bed.

The waking image of you is a complete contrast to the visions he sees in his dreams.

And it worried him.

At face value, everything was fine—at least for you and everyone else.

 _It was only a dream._ Cal consoled himself in his mind.

Today was going smoothly and normally as it should in Ryloth. With very little to do and go about, you made yourselves busy in the hideout called the Mound; from the outside, it looked like one big hill, but the inside was a literal labyrinth—paths branching out and connecting with one another. The Twi’leks knew the place like the back of their hand.

For your sake, you, Cal, and the others remained in the easy parts of the hideout.

“Cal?” you called, “Are you okay? You seem a little off today.”

“Am I? Maybe I haven’t been getting enough sleep,”

“Bed too lumpy to for you?” a half-hearted joke repaid with a weak chuckle.

It was evident that Cal was going through something and you wanted to help him. Looking around, there isn’t much to do—you’re practically sitting in the middle of a rock wasteland with just a Separatist base retrofitted into the Empire’s fashion. The most anybody could do—except the fighters who were busy planning out their attack—is help with the refugees, tending to the sick ones, handing over food and drink to them since they were lodged in the upper floor.

The Twi’leks whom you offered help to politely refused, saying that they didn’t want to use your energy for _that_ day, even if you said you could easily regain it with a single good night’s sleep. There was no point in insisting though.

“Hey Cal, you up for saber practice today?”

He managed a smile, the first smile he’s made today, “Sure.”

The two of you found a good place to practice—one of the chambers inside the Mound. It was an empty room and no possessions or other things the rebels might need are stashed there.

“This looks okay,” you commented, gently twirling about, gendering at the spaciousness of the room and the height of the ceiling; it was also well-lit, given the number of holes in the wall varying in sizes acting as windows.

Cal watched you spinning around the room to get a sense of space—not just spinning in one place, but actually circling the room—he smiled to himself when he witnessed your carefree spirit showing itself, but it followed with the heaviness in his heart, a sharp pang jabs him at the temples, white lights transitioned into bleak images before his eyes.

It’s the same images from his dream.

“Cal?” you run up to him massaging the side of his head. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just… I suddenly got dizzy there.”

“We could do this some other time, if you’re not feeling well, you know,”

“No, really,” he insisted. “I’m okay.”

You tilted your head, an expression that translates to “Are you sure?”

He insisted once more and positioned himself in a stance. Minutes later, he was back to normal, he was able to perform his usual tricks in dueling. He was still the little show-off, even in sparring practice, but you matched up to his tempo pretty quickly.

“Where did you pick that up?” you bantered while your blades were crossed together.

“Something I made up just now!”

“Don’t go easy on me then!”

You didn’t let him outshine you—both of you were like that to each other—and sometimes, your own prowess shines at the same time as his. The adrenaline in both of you kept pumping, making you seek the thrill of duel which wasn’t due until tomorrow. It was enough of a workout, Cham Syndulla’s words of “Save your strength!” has been beaten into your heads for the past few days. Understandably so, it was a rebellion—it meant a great deal not just for Cham but for his own family and people.

“You sure don’t hold back even in practice, do you?” you chuckled, wiping the sweat off your brow with your sleeve.

“You weren’t so bad yourself!”

Cal wished that the day doesn’t go on anymore. He just wants it to spend the day with you. He wondered if it was the perfect opportunity for him to finally say it—after getting constantly coaxed by Merrin and pestered by Greez to “just do it.”

While catching your breaths inside that empty chamber somewhere in the Mound, it was only the two of you inside, sitting next to each other in the stillness of the room.

“I wonder if the moon ever lines up to that hole in the ceiling,” you thought out loud, it was an innocent thought, however, it was still endearing to Cal.

He turned to you, your head tilting up while resting against the wall, staring at that orifice in the ceiling. He examined your expression—curious and filled with wonderment—and watched the way your eyes shift slightly from left to right from one hole in the wall to the other.

A part of him is basically shoving him by the back to tell it to you already, but for some reason, he can’t bring himself to say it. There was the hesitation he can’t fight off. He knows he’ll have to say it sooner or later.

He lets off a chuckle after your thought.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, it’s just that you have the cutest thoughts,”

“What? I was just wondering if the moon ever shows up above that hole!”

He tousled the top of your hair, letting more stray strands to fall out of place in that neat ponytail. As revenge, you ruffled _his_ hair with both hands—as opposed to him doing it one-handed—and the slicked-back top of his hair transformed into fringes that draped his forehead.

The hair-ruffling eventually evolved into tickling. Cal quickly got you pinned to the ground, his finger wiggled and poked across your ribs and sides, while you couldn’t even get a single jab at him.

“Alright, I yield!” you burst laughing.

You pushed him off of you until the two of you are already lying flat on the ground. The noise of the laughter has subsided until all that could be heard in the sound of the draft whistling through the windows.

Cal’s eyes never left you.

He carefully pondered and considered whom to confide this to. Obviously, he wanted to leave you out of it—he doesn’t want the worry to overtake you, even if you shrug it off as first. The next reasonable person would be the one who would have _had_ these sorts of dream at a certain point in time.

“Dreams? What kind of dreams, Cal?”

“Nightmares, Cere,”

“And what do they contain? Can you make out some images?”

“Pain, desperation…” He sighed. “Death.”

Cere’s eyes searched the cramped interior of the Mantis. Your voice caught her attention, you were busy studying the data from BD-1’s memory bank from the couch by the holotable. It wasn’t difficult to connect the dots. She turned back to Cal and upon seeing his expression, the former Jedi truly understood.

“You’re afraid,” Cere pointed out. “You’re afraid that these dreams might become reality.”

“Honestly, Cere, I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“And what do you propose to do?”

“I… I’ll just have to protect her,”

Cere released a resigned sigh, she didn’t think that she and Cal would have this talk sooner that she’d hoped.

“And how far do you think your protection will take her?”

Cal reflected on that question for a long time. Cere didn’t require an immediate answer, she wanted him to understand the depth of his resolve. She left the boy to his solitude and he retired to the bedroom in the ship to further meditate on his answer—the _real_ answer lying in the recesses of his mind.

_Explosions._

_The floor crumbling beneath the feet._

_“Please hold on!”_

_“Cal… Leave me… you have to go…”_

More images and voices. Indications of the same premonition, now more lucid before his eyes.

Just when Cal thought he would get at least a fragment of closure in his meditation, it seems that it only amplified the gravity of his dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Cal woke up realizing that he was late for the morning briefing; he rushed to the room where Cham Syndulla and his fighters are gathered. He finds you standing at the far back, away from the crowd, yet listening intently to the leader.

“Hi,” Cal huffed, gasping for air as quietly as he could. “Did I miss anything?”

“Oh hey, not much. Cham was just getting started,”

You filled him on the minor details before the Twi’lek got to the chunk of the plan; pointing which teams go where, when to strike, and who to avoid. Later, Cham turned to the two Jedi which prompted you to step forward and the people gave way for you.

“This section is the most crucial—and obviously the most well and heavily-guarded—with your weapons and knowledge in better combat, you two are our only chance of ever achieving our objective. You must destroy the main shield generator so we can have a better chance in taking it down with aerial assault. Can I count on you, Jedi Knights?”

There was a pause. You stepped closer to the hologram, your head panned across the very edge up until the blinking red square on the map that indicates the objective. You turned back to Cham and your signature confident smug plastered all over your face.

“Trouble seems to be our only selling point. Why don’t we give the Empire a free trial?”

Cheers filled the conference chamber, brandishing their weapons of all types, and fighters poured out of the mound—a handful rode in their mounts, whilst several continued on foot.

You and Cal were on the vanguard, with a designated assault squadron flanking you for cover.

This was only the beginning phase of the plan. The assault squadron that charged with you traded shots with the baffled Stormtroopers that were standing by and keeping watch at the main entrance. The pair of Jedi assisted the fighters as they faced head on with the melee-wielding Stormtroopers.

“Requesting reinforcements! The main entrance is being overwhelmed by rebels!” a Stormtrooper cried out helplessly before taking a shot from a blaster rifle.

“Go, Jedi! Half of the squad will cover for you once you’re inside!” Cham bellowed.

“Come on!” you beckoned Cal and he ran by your side.

The two of you come across a human barricade of Stormtroopers between the entrance of the stronghold and you. The barricade was spearheaded by a rocket launcher-wielding trooper, he already had a single shot loaded into his weapon, and all he needed was to pull the trigger.

A torpedo comes popping out of the barrel of the weapon. With your combined lightning-fast reflexes, you and Cal worked together—with his Force-Slow, he hindered the slug in mid-air, ripples in the air encased the large bullet, and your ability to manipulate the flow of objects using the Force comes into play: your hands weaved the air in a continuous spinning motion to which the slug motioned in a similar manner until it now faces the opposite direction. Cal then released his focus on the bullet and sends it flying back to the row of Stormtroopers—including the one who shot it.

The entire stronghold is now on high alert, but the two of you eluded the eyes of the Stormtroopers marching across the hallways until you could reach the objective. Neither confidence nor arrogance have a place in this mission, so going in quietly was the best option. The hallway you prowled through was similar to the fortress in Nur, though neither of you sense anything… yet.

“Cham, we’re inside the stronghold. Stormtroopers are coming your way,”

“Copy that. We’ll be ready for them, they haven’t thinned out _my_ numbers yet!”

You and Cal sprinted through the hallway, eager to get to the objective. Along the way, the Stormtroopers have started pouring into your direction and you have no choice but to fight through it.

“Calculating attack success probability.” The Imperial security droid monotonously annunciated as you dodge-rolled its uppercut punch.

This was already the third wave of enemies. The Jedi were beginning to anticipate that the next wave is bound to be more difficult than the last.

“They killed our droid!” a Stormtrooper whimpered.

“Oh no, now they look mad!” another followed.

To the Stormtroopers’ eyes, the blinding beams that are your sabers dazed them, messing up their aim and footing in effect; the Jedi were fluid and lithe with their attacks and general movements that none of the Stormtroopers’ blasters can find its mark.

The arrival of a Purge Trooper in the skirmish somehow became their beacon of relief. Humbled by the presence of the black-clad trooper wielding a massive electrohammer, they’ve technically placed all their hope of survival in their more tenacious, high-tier comrade.

“Two Jedi? Looks like my lucky day!” the Purge Trooper hissed through his helmet.

You made yourselves busy with the inferior Stormtroopers first before setting your sights on the Purge Trooper.

“Puh! They never even stood a chance anyway!” the enemy taunted, striking the floor with the pommel of his weapon.

Cal exchanged glances with you and for a moment, there was an unspoken understanding between the two of you. With each of you running on the walls on either side and leapt off at the end with an overhead strike, you took the Purge Trooper by surprise but he was quick-witted enough to deflect _both_ attacks.

“Oh-ho-ho!! A worthy challenge!” he chortled.

The joint stunt you did with Cal somewhat enabled the Purge Trooper rather than intimidate him, now he’s gotten more brutish with his attacks albeit sluggish—which you took advantage of. Cal immediately engaged him as a diversion while you sneak in and exploited an opening, regardless how narrow that window of opportunity might be.

To your surprise, the Purge Trooper deflected your sneak attack with his own gauntlet! A cocky snicker muffled through his helmet and he literally has his hands full with both of you. A hard kick to the shin from Cal caused the brute to lose his footing and it granted you a short time to finally kill the Purge Trooper.

You pulled your saber away from his gauntlet and while he fumbles, you released a triad of slashes across his body, severing his armor in half until an ember-encrusted gash across his body steals away the last breath in his lungs. The two of you stood there with your mouths agape while sucking in air.

“Well then… that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Cal blurted.

You threw yourself into Cal’s arms, not even as a response to his remark, but simply out of your heart’s content. You took Cal by surprise, he felt your fingers crumpling the back of his jumpsuit as you cling onto him. You drew the strength to pull away and shyly avert your eyes from him.

“Sorry… I just couldn’t help it… I don’t know what came over—”

He ignored your nervous rambling of reasons, he cupped your cheeks and his lips met yours for the very first time. His thumb caressed the fullness of your cheek as his tongue sneakily dips into your mouth. Of course by instinct, you kiss him back—tenderly sucking the bottom of his lip as you held him by the neck.

Even when he has pulled away, Cal followed up another kiss—but tender and short.

“Now isn’t really the best time but… I just wanted you to know it before shit goes down.”

You breathed out a chuckle, “Oh Cal, I know… I know.”

There was an exchange of awkward but endearing smiles, accompanied by snickers in between.

With your heads back in the game, you find your way to the place where the red blip on the map showed.

“There’s the door!” you squealed.

The blast door starts to open, slowly revealing a tall, hulking figure standing on the other end.

Your path was cut off by the Fifth Brother, a gray, hulking brute whose helmet made him resemble a Zeffonian or the guardian in its tombs.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he hummed, brandishing his dual-ended lightsaber.

“Wouldn’t you like to know!?” you snarled back.

Your lightsabers hissed back as you assumed stances. The Fifth Brother remained indifferent.

There appeared to be no room for small talk. The two Jedi faced the Inquisitor head on. Even though the dark warrior was outnumbered, his strength was twice the combination of your strength and Cal’s.

Meanwhile, Cham Syndulla was beginning to get worried why you and Cal were taking so long. He had feared the worst—and it has come true.

The Inquisitor has lured his enemies into the other side of the blast door, leading you into the exact place where you needed to be: the main shield generator chamber. Sitting at the center of the vast room is the pillar coated with electric currents—in other words: your target.

He’s made this duel much trickier. The walkways that lead to the main pillar had no railings, they lead straight into the abyss of the shaft, and it limited your space, thus forcing you to be more tactful with your movements.

“Careful!” Cal cried out.

“I know!”

The Fifth Brother’s fighting tactics was similar to the Ninth Sister’s, however, he moves in a feather-like grace despite his physical appearance—rendering his elusive and dexterous with his attacks. It was too impractical for both of you to keep on charging, it was a given fact that if he saw that strategy, he will just tire both of you out until he emerges victorious.

The Fifth Brother dealt a hit on your shoulder, afterwards he used the Force to push you away from him just so he can target Cal next.

When Cal got a little too close, the Fifth Brother landed his elbow against the boy’s jaw, disorienting him until he staggers backwards. He interrupted his fall by holding onto the edge of the bridge, the Inquisitor stood by the edge and hovered his foot just an inch above Cal’s fingers.

“No, get away from him!” you violently pulled the Inquisitor away from the ledge, making him return his attention to you.

He watched you bring yourself back up to your feet. You winced as you got both feet flat on the floor. The Inquisitor almost gutted you open by the abdomen—luckily, the thick fabric of your jacket only made the strike into a graze but it still burned on your skin. You looked at your arm, deep red blood dribbled and stained your tattered sleeve, and the seared flesh peeked through the slit that the Inquisitor has cut on your clothes.

“Pitiful! Stand up straight, girl!” he roared.

Cal immediately pulled himself up and saw that you weren’t in your best shape, but the Inquisitor had no regard to that and marched right towards you. The Inquisitor’s large hand braced your neck and hoisted you up from the floor, your legs kicked as you struggled for air, your small hands couldn’t loosen his crushing grip around your throat.

“This is the fight I was promised? Pssh, shame.”

Cal’s heart sank the moment the Fifth Brother drove his lightsaber into your abdomen. He didn’t even grant you to dignity to stand up straight as you prepared to face him.

The sensation was excruciating. Your body didn’t know whether to cough to recover from the choke or gasp for oxygen as you felt like you were a balloon that’s been ruptured open and is quickly running out of air.

You found Cal’s eyes, wide and wrought with anguish, and it slowly curdled into a seething rage—a _dangerous_ seething rage that can be weaponized when the tables have turned.


	3. Chapter 3

The Fifth Brother finally drops you to the floor, half-dead and barely holding onto your last thread of life.

“NOOOO!!”

Cal flung himself back on the surface and landing a strike on the Fifth Brother. Astounded, the Inquisitor witnesses the rage of a Jedi—their strength and biggest downfall—he realizes that he is not yet done with this fight. Cal’s heart rate is going through the roof, factoring from the race against time in completing the objective _and_ saving you, along with the head-to-head duel with the Fifth Brother.

“You think your sudden burst of power will save you? Foolish boy! Join her in death then!”

Stuck in a clash of blades, Cal managed to turn the Inquisitor’s guard down, slipped past him and afforded himself a strike from behind. You struggled to turn your eyes to the battle, you raise a weak hand directed at the Inquisitor, and while Cal was busy trying to lower the enemy’s guard, you stole the Inquisitor’s lightsaber—in one last effort, you flung it while it was still activated straight into the main power pillar.

White sparks flew in all directions from the main power pillar, with the surge of power clashing with one another, the Fifth Brother’s lightsaber was destroyed in the process.

“No…”

Before the Fifth Brother could further react, Cal kicked him down the shaft, his back colliding with the lower walkways as he fell. From the outside, Cham saw the result of your work and the fighters have picked up their momentum. Cal ran up to you, fell to his knees, and cradled you.

“[y/n]? [y/n], stay with me, baby. Come on…”

You struggled to keep your eyes open.

“Cal… I can’t… it hurts…” you sobbed.

“Okay, it’s okay,” he whispered frantically.

“You have to go…”

“No, I’m not leaving you!”

In a last resort, he attempted the only thing that he has never done up until now. He tried to remain calm in a span of a few seconds while hell was breaking loose. He places his hand on your stomach, just near the stab wound, and focused whatever Life Force he can muster into you. For a moment, it felt like cold water was running across your skin until the sensation touched your organs.

In return, Cal felt exhausted and sluggish. It’s as if the toll of the duel had finally reached his body, though he felt the rush even after he’d kicked the Fifth Brother down.

It felt good… but it was only enough for the both of you.

“[y/n]...? Can you stand?”

“I… I’ll try…” you whimpered.

All of a sudden, standing up became difficult for him; it felt too much of an effort for him—in addition to having you hanging by his shoulder—as he hobbled you out of the chamber.

“Come on, [y/n], we’re almost out of here,”

The path that seemed like a quick sprint for him transformed into a strenuous, long trek. He brought the commlink attached to his gauntlet to his mouth.

“Cham, the main generator’s destroyed…! We need reinforcements in the stronghold… now!”

“My men are on their way to you already!” Cham radioed.

“Hurry, [y/n] is hurt real bad!”

“Hold fast, we’re coming!”

The urgency in Cham’s voice was a relief, but the probability of his men reaching you seemed bleak. Cal has never been this terrified in his life and this was a horrible first time for him. Never in his life did he expected a premonition to come true. He used his strength to scoop you up from the floor and into his arms as he strode through the hallway, destroying the control panels of the blast doors to bar the Stormtroopers that might tail him.

_I thought… I could stop it…_

_I thought… I could protect her!_

_And now she’s dying!_

“Please, [y/n], not now!” he begged.

“Cal…” you barely breathed. “I can’t… anymore…”

“No, we’re gonna make it. _You’re_ gonna make it!”

“I don’t think…”

“Come on now, just a few more steps! We’re almost there!” he whimpered tearfully, holding you ever closer to him. “Please, don’t go out quietly on me!”

His determination was also in shambles. His conscience has been shattered into half—a part of him believed you can make it, the other believed that this premonition is materializing, no matter how it went, the result shall remain the same as it was in the dream: Cal will witness you die right in front of him.

As he dragged his lethargic body along with his precious cargo in tow, all the while, he’s mentally struggling it all. He has come this far already, he wouldn’t let himself go down this easily.

“Cham… where are you? Cere…?” Cal sobbed. “Please… help…”

Eventually, the young Jedi fumbled to the floor. His vision began were darkening around the edges. He crawled behind a metal crate and dragged your body with him. Your eyes were closed and you were very still.

“NO! [Y/N]!!”

That cry siphoned out a lot of energy remaining in him, he repeated your name many times until your eyes could open again. He cradled you again, shaking you with every time he said your name.

“Cal…” your voice was barely within his earshot, but he heard it. He heard it.

“I’m here… Baby, I’m here…!”

“I’m sorry…” you weakly muttered, barely able to string words together form a complete sentence. “Save yourself…”

“No, no, it’s okay! Cham is coming, help is on the way…” he choked on tears. “I promise!”

The exhaustion is creeping up to him, slowly devouring and numbing his body. His eyelids were heavy, he could barely keep his eyes open. The explosive burst of the blast door didn’t do much in getting a reaction from him anymore, a familiar face shows up right in front of him.

It’s Cere.

“Come on, we’re getting you out of here!” she said with a tenacity and an uncontrollable desire to protect.

“Cere… came through… save her…”

The poor young Jedi, having the burden of the battle weighed on him, blacked out after registering in his mind that Cere has finally arrived.

Cal later wakes up in what ought to be the medical bay of the stronghold. The blinding white lights danced behind his eyes, the low humming of the air-conditioning rung close to him, he found his hands stripped of his gloves and climbing claws only to be replaced with bandages. A slight nudge of his arm made him feel the cold tingle of a drip needle stuck into his arm.

“Boo-woop! Boo!” BD-1 chirped.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Cere, standing at the foot of the bed, greeted.

“BD? Cere?”

“We did it, Cal. Cham has reclaimed the stronghold. He decided that this med-bay would be a better option that the medical supplies back—”

“Where is she?” he immediately snapped.

Cere exchanged glances with the little droid sitting on Cal’s lap. She swallowed the nervous lump in her throat as she carefully gathers the words in her mind that she’ll say to him.

“Is she safe? Is she alright?”

Cere sighed, the same resigned look was painted in her face again, only this time it was more somber.

The medical droid supported Cal in sitting up and finally bringing his feet to the floor. Cere took over and supported Cal by his side, making herself his crutch as they hobbled out of his med-bay room. Luckily, the ward where you’ve been placed is not far from his.

“We’re here,”

They come across a room whose front wall was a whole sheet of thick glass. In the center of the room, a group of medical droids—namely a GH-7 medical analysis droid, an FX-6 medical assistant, and a 2-1B. Cal watched them hover around your unconscious body in all sides as they extract the necessary medical data, reflecting their findings in hologram projections that were visible to even the visitors outside the room.

The GH-7 droid hovered towards Cal to report its diagnosis. Its emphatic voice was somewhat reassuring and soothing as it spoke, its perceptiveness on the patient gave Cal a stroke of comfort when he demanded to know the status of your health.

“She is very lucky,” the droid’s empathic voice purred. “And very strong.”

Cal noticed the hanging tone at the end of its sentence, he prompted it to continue.

“Fortunately, the penetration wound found in her abdomen did not rupture any of her vital organs. In fact, it barely missed the bottom of her left lung. However, the severity of her wounds factored to her needing immediate surgery. It’s a miracle that she was able to hold on in such a nearly-long period of time. The weapon used on her—to some extent—saved her. It cauterized her wounds both on the arm and torso, therefore lessened the blood loss. If it was any other weapon, she would have bled to death, and she would’ve died instantly.”

“Has she woken up ever since she got here?”

The droid hung its flat-faced head and gestured with its arms attached with various apparatus.

“No, I am afraid she is in a state of comatose. Her chances of waking up appear bleak. We are currently figuring out how long she’ll remain unconscious; until then, we can only hope. It is in my analysis that comatose patients—albeit in a sleep-like state—are still capable of hearing voices when being spoken to. You may do so in a few minutes. Please, excuse me.”

The droid gave a quick bow before turning around and hovering back into your ward. A few minutes later, it kept its promise and allowed you to go inside your ward. Cal sat down by your bedside, studying the hologram projections of your vitals’ readings as the droids hovered about, continuing their data extraction.

“[y/n]? We did it,” Cal whispered. “ _You_ did it, my brave little girl.”

He gently took your hand into his, feeling the softness of your palm and the warmth that you radiated. Even before he could utter a word, he was already choking while blinking away the tears welling up in his eyes.

“Please…” he muttered as he stared at the stillness of your face. “Please, fight. Please wake up soon. Until then, I’ll be waiting for you. Be strong, [y/n].”

He fought back the tears, telling you how brave you were in fighting the Inquisitor, if it wasn’t for you then he wouldn’t have defeated him. He promised you things that the two of you would do once you’ve awakened—he’ll take you to a trip to Takodana, knowing that you would love the fresh air and swimming in its great lakes, he’ll make Maz serve the best booze in the castle just for the two of you, and so many more things that you would have absolutely loved.

“Only if you promise me you’d wake up, won’t you, [y/n]?”

“Cal,” Cere tenderly called, not intending to break up his moment with you. “Come on, you need your rest too if you’re gonna keep your promises to her.”

“Yeah, I just… give me another minute,” he wiped the tears off his cheeks with his bandaged hands. He leaned closer to you, planting a kiss on your forehead before he leaves.

“Rest well, my love.”

As he turned away, he didn’t see the single tear that escaped the corner of your eye and the faint twitch of your fingers.

His voice, his words—you heard them all.

Even in your subconscious, you coax yourself harder than ever before to fight back, to regain your strength and fulfill your end of the promise.


End file.
